Discoveries From The Past That Confirm The Bible (Archaeology)

The discipline of Biblical Archaeology provides
support and understanding for the veracity of the
Scriptures, however, its purpose is not to "prove" the
Bible. Robert Bradshaw in his 1992 paper on
Archaeology and the Patriarchs (Biblical
Studies. Org.uk) notes, "Yahweh is uniquely the God who
acts in history, and inasmuch as archaeology sheds
light on that history it is important to Biblical
studies." W.S. Lasor in "Archaeology" in the
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (Grand
Rapids: Eerdman's 1979) points out that "faith does not
ask for proof, but archaeology provides a context of
reality for the Biblical story and a reasonability for
Biblical faith." It is from this perspective that the
following samples of archaeological evidence
corroborating the Scriptures are presented.

ANTIQUITIES & EARLY ARCHAEOLOGICAL
EVIDENCE

In the 18th and 19th centuries a growing European
field interest in the great past civilizations of the
Middle East (Sumer, Akkadia, Assyria, Babylonia,
Persia, Egypt), centered principally on the search for
large impressive items of "antiquity" to be taken back
to museums in London, Paris, Berlin, etc.
Notwithstanding the frequent laxity of
site-documentation and context-sensitive methods
regarding the provenance of items found, this early
period yielded some of the most impressive evidence
extant today that is supportive of the Old Testament
record. Some examples from this Antiquities/Early
Archaeology Period are reviewed below.

First - Unraveling the Languages: Two
unrelated discoveries of trilingual inscriptions in
stone during this period led to unraveling the
mysteries of Egyptian hieroglyphic symbols and
Mesopotamian cuneiform characters.

The first trilingual record was the "Rosetta
Stone" discovered in 1799 by one of Napoleon's
soldiers while digging a trench in Egypt. It contained
a message in three languages: Hieroglyphic, Demotic (a
hieroglyphic shorthand) and Greek. In 1822 a young
French scholar used the Greek to finally unlock the
Hieroglyphics and this led to opening up the vast 3000+
year old Egyptian inscriptions of the Nile basin to the
world. Two examples are:

The stone stele of Pharaoh Meneptah (c.1215
B.C.) was discovered in 1896 at Thebes, Egypt. Its
hieroglyphics provide irrefutable confirmation of the
presence of Israel as a people in the land of Canaan at
the time of the Judges. It is the oldest known
extra-Biblical reference to Israel extant today. The
text reads... "Canaan is plundered with every evil way.
Ashkelon is conquered and brought away captive, Gezer
seized, Yanoam made nonexistent, Israel is
wasted, bare of seed..." (emphasis added).

The record of Pharaoh Shoshenq (Shishak - 944-924
BC) found on the south wall of the great temple of
Amon at Karnak, Egypt is another example. Here Shishak
recorded his 10th Century B.C. military campaign
against Judea and King Rehoboam. In it he lists the
cities he sacked including Jerusalem, Gibeon, and
Megiddo. The Bible in 1 Kings 14:25-26 and 2 Chronicles
12: 2-4, 9 relates this invasion in the 5th year of
Rehoboam's reign.

The second trilingual key to ancient
languageswas found in 1833 by Sir Henry
Rawlinson while in Persia to organize the Shah's army.
He discovered that the huge ancient inscription carved
high on the face of Mt. Behistun was in three different
cuneiform systems: Old Persian, Elamite and Akkadian.
By 1836 he managed to translate the Old Persian and by
1845 the other two languages were deciphered. With this
breakthrough, scholars were now able to read the
meaning of literally thousands of cuneiform records
from all over Mesopotamia. One result, among others,
has been the discovery of dramatic evidence
corroborating the Old Testament history of Israel and
Judah. Some examples are:

The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III which
was uncovered by Austen Henry Layard in 1845 at Nimrud.
This seven foot high black stone prism is inscribed
with pictures and cuneiform on all four sides and
clearly shows King Jehu of Israel bowing to the ground
and paying tribute monies to Shalmaneser III. The
cuneiform text identifies the prostrate King as "Jehu
the son of Omri" and also mentions Hazael of
Aram/Damascus (see 2 Kings 8:7-15 & 10:28-36).

The Name of Tiglath-Pileser III: In 1
Chronicles 5:26 the beginning of the Assyrian captivity
of the northern kingdom of Israel is described thusly:
And the Lord God of Israel stirred up the spirit of
Pul, King of Assyria, and the spirit of
Tiglath-Pilneser, king of Assyria and he carried away
even the Reubenites and Gadites, and the half tribe of
Manasseh, and brought them into Halah and Habor, and
Hara, and to the river Gozan, unto this day. At
first this seems to be a contradiction by describing
two separate kings of Assyria with the names of Pul and
Tiglath-Pilneser. 2 Kings 15:19-20 tells us that
Menahem, King of Israel, paid tribute to Pul, King of
Assyria, to save his capital, Samaria, from
destruction. Assyrian scholars agree that during the
first part of Menahem's 10 year reign, around 746 B.C.,
a usurper named Tiglath-Pileser seized the Assyrian
throne and ruled for some 18 years. Cuneiform records
on clay tablets found at Nimrud have silenced the
critic's cry that the Bible is false. Two separate
tablets give parallel accounts for this Assyrian
monarch, the one uses Pul, the other uses
Tiglath-Pileser III. The fact is, the usurper, Pul
(Pulu) changed his name to Tiglath-Pileser (as the
third monarch to choose that title) in order to enhance
his authority/legitimacy. Interestingly, the Hebrew
idiom in 1 Chronicles 5:26 that bridges the two names
with "and" can apparently also be translated "even,"
thus the text can appropriately be understood to
read... the spirit of Pul, King of Assyria, even the
spirit of Tiglath-Pileser King of Assyria (emphasis
added). Archaeological cuneiform evidence preserved in
nearly 3000 year old clay tablets now corroborates this
rendering!

In addition, the record of King Menahem giving
tribute to 'Pul' in order to buy off the destruction of
Samaria as recorded in 2 Kings 15:19-20 is also
corroborated by one of the 'Tiglath-Pileser's' own
cuneiform inscriptions that reads: "I received tribute
from Menahem of Samaria...Like a bird alone he fled and
submitted to me."

The Clay Prism of Sargon II discovered in
Khorsabab in 1843 by P. E. Botta tells of a siege of
Samaria, the taking away of captives and replacing them
with Assyrian captives from other lands. It reads, "I
besieged and captured Samaria and carried off 27,290 of
its inhabitants as booty... The city I rebuilt better
than it was before and settled therein people from
countries which I myself had conquered." This Assyrian
practice of replacing captives with foreigners is
clearly seen in 2 Kings 17:5-6 and 23-24.

The Hexagonal Clay Prism of Sennacherib
discovered at Nineveh. This artifact boasts of the
victories of Sennacherib but never mentions any
defeats. It tells of the siege of Jerusalem in 701 B.C.
during the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, and
says... "I shut up Hezekiah, the Judahite, like a caged
bird within Jerusalem his own royal city." In three
accounts (2 Kings 18:13 - 19:37; 2 Chronicles 32 and
Isaiah 36 & 37) the Bible clearly outlines Yahweh's
miraculous defeat of Sennacherib's mighty army
besieging Jerusalem. If Sennacherib had breached the
city, conquered Hezekiah and taken captives from
Jerusalem, one would expect this 'boasting' prism to
highlight such a signal event. Understandably, it says
nothing of 'victory' at Jerusalem just as it says
nothing of his defeat there. It is interesting to note,
however, that Egyptian sources of the day do mention
the Assyrian defeat at Jerusalem. They claimed it was
one of their gods who sent field mice into the Assyrian
camp at night to eat up all their bowstrings, rendering
the soldiers unable to fight, thus forcing Sennacherib
to flee back to Nineveh. Such was the propaganda of one
great military power against another even in those
days!

An amazing event associated with Sennacherib's siege
of Jerusalem was the urgent work before the siege of
Hezekiah's engineers to secure a vital water source
safely within the city defenses. Tunneling under
Jerusalem from opposite ends they linked together the
Gihon Spring just outside the wall in the Kidron Valley
on the east side of Jerusalem to the pool of Siloam 30
feet lower inside the city walls more than 1700 feet to
the southwest. They stopped up the external flows of
the Gihon and redirected all its waters through this
secret tunnel into Jerusalem only. This long twisting
'S' shaped tunnel was completed when the workmen from
each end met in the middle. The American Orientalist,
Edward Robinson, discovered the tunnel in 1838 and
later, in 1880, a young boy accidentally discovered a
Hebrew inscription carved into the tunnel wall near the
center where the two teams met. This now famous 'Siloam
Inscription' describes how the two teams met in the
middle by listening for the sound of each other's
voices and hammers. This incredible feat, blessed by
Yahweh, and re-discovered thousands of years later,
dramatically confirms the veracity of 2 Chronicles
32:2-4 and 2 Kings 20:20.

Many other archaeological finds from the
subsequent empires of Babylon and Persia provide
similar confirmation of the Scriptures. Babylonian
cuneiform tablets mentioning rations for captive
Jehoiachin, King of Judah, and other relatives (cf. 2
Kings 24:10-16) and the Babylonian Chronicle tablets
recording the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar
(cf. 2 Kings 25:8-11) are examples. The 'Cyrus
Cylinder' written in Babylonian cuneiform after Cyrus
II conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. sets out his tolerant
views on the treatment of conquered peoples and their
right to religious freedom. Its tone and intent
correlate strongly with the Bible record of his
proclamation allowing the Jewish captives in Babylon to
return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. (See 2
Chronicles 36:22-23, Isaiah 44:28 and Ezra 1 all)

POST 19th CENTURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

The work of Sir Flinders Petrie from 1890 to 1920
and the work of William F. Albright from 1920 to the
1960's had a profound impact on 20th Century
Palestinian and Biblical Archaeology. As a result of
their work it became more scientific and systematic as
well as more integrated with historical/cultural
geography, Biblical research, and general Near Eastern
Studies. Space here allows only a short listing of a
few Bible-relevant archaeological findings since 1900.
In approximate chronological order they are:

The Gezer Calendar (D\dated c. 925-1000
B.C.?) found at ancient Gezer northwest of Jerusalem in
1908 by R.A. Macalister. It lists annual agricultural
tasks by month. It shows clear evidence of literacy in
Israel at this time.

The Lachish Ostraca found at ancient Lachish
south west of Jerusalem in the 1930's by James Starkey.
These are pottery shards that were used as 'scrap
paper' to send urgent messages about the conditions
just before the 1st Babylonian invasion. Letter #3
refers to warnings from "the prophet," #4 says Lachish
and Azekah are among the last to come under siege
(Jeremiah 34:7) and #6 tells of conspiracy in language
that echoes Jeremiah 38:4,19.

Collapsed Walls of Jericho investigated by
Garstang in the 1930's, Kenyon in the 1950's and Wood
in the 1980's - 90. Physical evidence (especially from
Kenyon's work) shows sudden catastrophic destruction
and burning consistent with Joshua 6:20, 24. Garstang
dated it to 1400 B.C. and Kenyon to 1550 B.C. Wood
endorses Garstang's dating.

Dead Sea Scrolls discovered 60 years ago
(1947-56) in caves at Qumran near the Dead Sea.
Biblical and non-Biblical manuscripts in Hebrew, Greek
and Aramaic were found. There are over 800 documents
and thousands of fragments dating from the 1st - 3rd
centuries B.C. The complete scroll of Isaiah is the
most spectacular find. When compared to the previous
oldest sources for Isaiah (nearly 1000 years younger),
this scroll and Masoretic texts are virtually
identical. This provides a powerful case for the
reliability of the Scriptures over time.

Temple Mount Studies have been greatly
extended since the 6 Day War of 1967. The initial work
of Benjamin Mazar and the work of Leen and Kathleen
Ritmeyer uncovered the Second Temple Pre-Herodian
walls. This is the most definitive assessment to date
of the Temple Mount boundaries and walls from the
pre-Herodian period. Work at the southwest corner
reveals either Second Temple foundation elements or
possibly Solomonic foundation blocks.

The Ebla Tablets from Tel Mardikh in northern
Syria, excavated by Paolo Matthaie 1964-1975+ reach far
back into Bible times. Fifteen thousand clay tablets in
cuneiform were found in a library thought to be
associated with royalty. Many date to 3rd Century B.C.
and some even as far back as the time of Abraham. It
has been reported that several Bible places, Ur, Sodom,
Gomorrah, Haran, Lachish, Jerusalem, Hazor, Megiddo,
etc. and names such as Abraham, Israel, Esau, David and
Micah were discovered in Ebalite, a Semitic language
resembling ancient Hebrew. There is intense
archeological dispute over these early claims and the
matter is still far from settled. The Syrian government
continues to withhold full publication of the
texts.

Tel Dan Stele (dated 9th Century B.C.)
discovered in 1994 by Avraham Biran in northern
Galilee. This is a broken victory stele of a northern
king describing his conquests over Israel. It contains
the phrases, 'King of Israel' and 'House of David.'
This is the earliest extra-Biblical reference to the
royal line of David.

The Pool of Siloam: Recently in 2004 deeper
excavations at this Jerusalem site uncovered, at a
lower elevation, the true ancient pool of Siloam (John
9:11).

The Gath Ostracon (a pottery fragment) was
found in 2005 by Aren Masir at Tel es-Safi (Biblical
Gath of the Philistines). This shard has nine letters
incised into it representing two names. Linguistically
they are connected to 'Goliath.'

IN SUMMARY

This short article is a brief glance at a much
larger body of archaeological evidence that supports
the veracity of the Bible. The common thread is that
these long silent testimonies speak to us today with
sureness and a constancy unchanged through the ages.
They encourage our faith that God's word is true, sure,
steadfast, and a lamp to our feet in a darkening age.
We do well to remember these enduring words, Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass
away (Matthew 24:35).

James Horton, Grimsby, ON

The Seal of Hagab

In archaeological excavations the Israel Antiquities
Authority is carrying out at the behest of the Western
Wall Heritage Foundation, in the northwestern part of
the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem, a rare and
impressive Hebrew seal was discovered that dates to the
latter part of the First Temple period. The seal was
found in a building that is currently being uncovered,
which dates to the seventh century B.C. - to the time
when the kings Manasseh and Josiah reigned.

According to the excavation director, archaeologist
Shlomit Wexler-Bdolah of the IAA, "The seal, which
apparently belonged to a private individual, is made of
black stone, is elliptical in shape and measures 1.2 x
1.4 cm. It is adorned with an engraved decoration of an
archer shooting a bow and arrow. The name of the archer
is engraved in ancient Hebrew script next to him and
reads LHGB (meaning: for Hagab). The name Hagab is
mentioned in the Bible in Ezra 2:46, as well as in the
Lachish Letters, which also date to the time of the
First Temple." Ezra's Hagab was a temple servant, from
a different period in Israel's history and not,
therefore, the same individual. The Hebrew name
Hagab means grasshopper.

The seal is unique since this is the first time that
a private seal has been discovered that bears a Hebrew
name and is decorated in the Assyrian style. The seal
attests to the strong Assyrian influence that existed
in Jerusalem in the seventh century B.C.. It is usually
assumed that the owner of private seals were
individuals who held government positions. The name
appears in reverse so that when impressed in clay, it
would come out right.

Sources : IMRA, October 30, 2008 and Ritmeyer
Archaeological Design's website. The representation of
the seal depicted above was taken from this site:
www.ritmeyer.com